back to article Jesus phone RAISED from DEAD. Watch iPhone 6 get BURNED, DROWNED, SMASHED

Apple's latest iPhones are the toughest mobes ever made, if the results of a sadistic insurer's torture test are to be believed. SquareTrade used a cruel robot to inflict all manner of pain on the two models of the iPhone 6, which can be bought in the normal size or as a well-endowed, ab-phab version with a 5.5-inch face. The …

  1. JoshOvki

    Slightly impressed...

    I can happily say I will never buy one, but I am impressed by how well it survived the dunking.

    1. Slacker@work

      Re: Slightly impressed...

      Given the iP6 is following on from a load of IP58 rated devices like Sony and Samsung's latest - then a 10 second immersion test under a few mm of water should be expected rather than marvelled at (and lets be fair, the speakers stopped working).

      Still not seen anything about these devices to make me think they are anything other than a big handful of meh

      1. JoshOvki

        Re: Slightly impressed...

        That is very true. Makes me think about how many phones I have had, get water damaged! I am glad they are starting to make phones more resistant to water and not just carry on the trend of putting a load of moisture sensors inside so they wouldn't need to fix them.

        1. alwarming

          Re: Slightly impressed...

          > Makes me think about how many phones I have had, get water damaged!

          My 15 years of data:

          ------------------------------

          Water damaged: 0

          Stolen: 1

          Carrier change: 2

          Upgrade: 1 (bulky nokia 54xx to 31xx).

          ----------------------------

          Current mobe: 1 month away from completing 4 years. Mayupgrade in an year.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Slightly impressed...

        The thing that impresses me about surviving that dunking is that Apple has never said a single word about the iPhone's ability to withstand water. Other phones are listing it as a feature, but Apple is not - perhaps because they have designed it to be water resistant, but don't have the official rating. Either because it might be water resistant for shorter periods but not the full 30 minutes required by IP58/IP67, or because they don't think the rating is worth bothering with.

        Most people just want their phone to be undamaged if caught out in the rain or knocked into a sink and hurriedly fished out. 30 minutes of protection is overkill. Besides, those IP58/IP67 ratings are only for fresh water, so a dip in a chlorinated pool or sea water may cause damage even to a phone so rated.

        The fact the speakers quit working underwater doesn't bother me too much. It isn't clear if that was actually a malfunction or just water blocking the movement of the speaker's membrane. Even if it is a temporary malfunction, so long as it comes back quickly I wouldn't care. It isn't like I'm wishing I could make calls from the shower!

  2. MatsSvensson

    BURNED?

    I saw no burning at all.

    1. Elmer Phud

      Re: BURNED?

      Need Thermite!

  3. wowfood

    Personally

    Iuno, I've already seen a few 'drop tests' being done on youtube, one of which I believe was on this site in another artile by some techfix au company (i forget the actual name) where the screen broke in stupendous style.

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: Personally

      Yep, that was on this site.

      Thing is, no one can be that stupid to drop their phone from a height above 3 feet, can they?

      1. JDX Gold badge

        Re: Personally

        Most people would be holding the phone more than 3' above the ground when standing. Many people's pockets are more than 3' above the ground, meaning a fumble getting it in/out of your pocket achieves that. IF you keep your phone in a jacket pocket, even sitting down it's higher than 3'.

        1. wowfood

          Re: Personally

          Hot bar, sweaty hands, talking to somebody on the phone and somebody knocks into you, that's a good 6ft drop right there (give or take a few inches)

          If you're a builder and you put your phone in a back pocket before climbing a ladder, that's definitely more than 3ft if it drops. Although I'd advise any builder to buy a nokia... not one of the new ones, one of the old indestructible types. Once dropped one off the top of an old oil truck, 1st story height at least, barely scuffed the plastic.

          I've rarely seen anyone drop their phone from a table top, it's normally fumbling to get it out of / put it in to a jacket pocket.

          1. Britt

            Re: Personally

            I broke 3... in a week. Roofing will destroy most things.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Personally

      This was the best drop test I've seen!

      http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7lhXOgJ8ahA

  4. NoneSuch Silver badge

    Give it to my wife for a week. She's gone through three phones this year.

    1) Washing machine.

    2) Determined not to leave phone in washing machine again she left it on the outside patio and it got rained on.

    3) She wouldn't say, but there was blue water inside.

    1. pepper

      Heh, my father's iPhone 4S survived a similar ordeal only cause I have picked it up and placed it in a safe place multiple times. It's even better when he goes on that he cannot find his phone!

    2. AMBxx Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      My father-in-law kept his Nokia in his shirt pocket. Bent over a fish pond, phone dropped in. Wouldn't turn on again, so he put it on to charge (while still wet). Then phoned me for advice! Phone taken apart and left in airing cupboard for a couple of days.

      Only problem was the SIM card going rusty. Phone worked fine.

      Paris because she'd have more sense than to drop a phone in a pond.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      My wife managed to chuck her SG S4 though the 2" opening in the car window whilst inside. It hit good Cumbrian limestone (5'+ drop) and somehow only chipped a corner, bounced and then sat in a puddle.

      A colleague with the same phone had crazy paving on the screen after a 2' drop onto a stony beach - it hit on the corner as well.

      Mine has flown across the room onto a wooden floor and also reacquainted itself with gravity and the tiles in our kitchen from various heights. It's fine.

      Conclusion: you need to do a shit load of drop tests to prove toughness. Anecdotes are not data, especially not with the variations possible. Still, help yourself to my anecdotes - you're worth it.

      Cheers

      Jon

      1. John Tserkezis

        "Anecdotes are not data"

        True, but there is only one true one-off test that hasn't been done yet.

        Will it blend?

        As it turns out, less than what they make it out to:

        http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-iPhone-6-Plus-almost-doesnt-blend_id60895

        Watch for the frying battery.

  5. Euan 1
    Meh

    Blue water?

    Don't they use that on tampon adverts?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Blue water?

      I was thinking that. But perhaps she has a secret boyfriend with a seagoing yacht. That kind of blue water.

  6. 45RPM Silver badge

    This, at least, is destruction with a point. Generally though, I feel rather annoyed by idiots who smash up gadgets / cars / whatever, regardless of manufacturer. Fuckit, I feel annoyed when I see twats kicking over snowmen or stamping on sandcastles. It's clever to create and mindless to destroy - and, as I say to my son, if you can't make it then don't break it. And, if you can make it, you probably won't want to break it.

    1. Elmer Phud
      Flame

      I used to make Airfix kits and when I was bored with them I'd 'borrow' some lighter fuel from my Dad and get creative.

      Burning planes on bits of string - wonderful.

      1. 45RPM Silver badge

        Yeah - me too. But it wasn’t like I burned them into a puddle of goo. I burned them so that they looked shot up and then had them trailing black trails of dyed cotton wool across the ceiling of my bedroom, hotly pursued by another Airfix model. I’d make bullet holes with a heated up pin too.

  7. damien c

    Better Than Z2

    Well I am impressed since it survived a higher drop than my Z2 survived, although it's still working fine.

    My Z2 was knocked of the arm of the couch on to a carpet floor from a height of around 2ft to 3ft and the phone now has a massive crack down the entire back of the phone, from one corner to the other corner in a diagonal line.

    These results will still not make me buy a overpriced POS from a company that likes to force people to wait for there purchase, because they want it to be "exclusive" even though they have millions of them in there warehouses.

    My next phone will be a HTC as they have a decent build quality since Samsung and Sony cannot make a phone that won't break from small drops or just putting it in your pocket.

    1. 45RPM Silver badge

      Re: Better Than Z2

      How do they make you wait? Sure, waiting is an option if you have a lot of time on your hands and no bloody life - but normal people just order it online and have it delivered. Same as with any other brand.

      There are lots of things that you can criticise Apple for without just making shit up. And if you just don’t like Apple, hey that’s cool. But you can just say ‘I don’t like Apple, but for no very well thought out reason’.

      1. Mattjimf

        Re: Better Than Z2

        Considering that the wait for the phone is a month if you didn't order it within the first day of the pre-sale being announced, regardless if you ordered online or not.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Better Than Z2

      Your phone failed to withstand a drop of less than 3' onto CARPET? I can't count the number of times I've dropped or bumped my iPhone (3GS, 4S, 5) onto carpet around my house from up to 5' and never had any damage whatsoever.

      The only times I had damage from drops were a few scuffs on the edges from dropping onto concrete (one time each for each phone) I'm a little more conscious about holding it securely when I'm around other people or hard surface, especially concrete. It wouldn't ever occur to me to be worried about it hitting carpet!

      I don't know how bad the build quality would have to be for a bump off the couch onto carpet to do that!

      1. BleedinObvious

        Re: Better Than Z2

        Probably the screen was chipped or cracked invisibly from an earlier severe knock/drop, and the soft fall just happened to be the straw that broke it's already microfractured back.

        Saying that I have seen a few reports of this happening particularly to Z2 in xda-forums, like one that just spontaneously shattered while sitting flat on a shelf.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Elf 'n Safety

    Drop testing is very important to ensure that a) the phone continues to work after dropping and b) it doesn't break in such a way that it can cause personal injury.

    So, perhaps we should require that ALL iPhones are dropped onto concrete from an appropriate height (200 feet?) before delivery to customers, just to make sure they are 101% safe. Or even that we should drop the iPhone and its owner from 200 feet onto concrete to make sure that both work safely afterwards?

    It's one way of stopping all those irritating 'Sent from my iPhone' emails

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Elf 'n Safety

      Ok as long as you volunteer to stand underneath all the tests. Just so that we can have something to aim at you know!!!!

    2. Splatcat

      Re: Elf 'n Safety

      If you can get it delivered via Parcel Force I believe they will carry out these test for you at no extra charge.

    3. Jan 0 Silver badge

      Re: Elf 'n Safety

      Upvoted for the "irritating 'Sent from my iPhone' " comment.

      I can't believe how many people are too thick to understand that it's not immutable, yet have enough money to buy one.

  9. DerekCurrie
    Unhappy

    Go on, fandroids, you're allowed to cry

    Here, have a hanky. (;_;)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Go on, fandroids, you're allowed to cry

      Why should they cry, or even care? I don't care how durable other phones are, only the one I have - and to be honest, really only to the extent I think I might be likely to accidentally damage it. Go ahead, make an Android phone that's able to survive down to 660 feet like diver's watches, watch me not care.

      Nothing is going to stop trolls from claiming that whatever phone they're slagging on breaks easily, can't survive a foggy day or generally sucks in every conceivable way. Trolls on either side of the smartphone fence don't let little things like facts get in the way of their trolling.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tim Cook?

    Easier repair, improved durability test results? Is Tim Cook the supply chain and production guy taking over the company?

    It would be good if he was. This is actually the most positive sign I've seen from Apple in years. Remember when HP was engineering > design > marketing? When you could put their stuff on an oil rig and it would keep working?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Tim Cook?

      I think repairability still takes a back seat to design at Apple, but if Ive's designs can be made more easily repairable it only makes sense to do so. Not because Apple particularly cares about do-it-yourselfers, but because they want to make it easier for Apple to repair.

      Durability likewise - takes a back seat to design but if you can make it more durable you reduce the number of staff at Apple Stores who are dealing with getting a customer's phone repaired instead of selling stuff. Presumably more durable phones make for happier customers too, especially clumsy ones!

  11. James 100

    I had a Nexus 4 with the self-destructing back (smashed to powder by a small drop, revealing the back was made of very very thin glass rather than plastic) and I've lost two handsets to liquid damage (one washing machine incident, one coffee spill that got into the wrong place), so I'm delighted to see things like the Galaxy S5 on the market with decent resilience and water resistance.

    Living in Scotland, just going for a walk can mean a wet handset (walking a mile in heavy rain meant that even the shirt under my "waterproof" jacket was soaked through, leaving me seriously worried about the phone in my pocket until I got a carrier bag to wrap it in).

    Of course, these days I make sure to put any new handset in a Lifeproof case - so, from their specs, I could safely go scuba diving with my phone never mind get caught in the rain.

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